The Love of An Angel
by Skitty
Summary: Willow talks to a little girl about Buffy's love life... Prologue summary only, as soon as I think of the summary for the rest, I'll change this.
1. Prologue

The Love of An Angel Chapter One By DisguisedDiva  
  
Emma Summers sat at the plastic table in her bedroom coloring with her Aunt Willow while her mommy was away. Aunt Willow was pretty, and she did magic to protect her mommy. She and Uncle Oz lived in the basement of her mommy's house. Uncle Xander and Aunt Anya lived in another house, and Gamma Joyce and Gampa Giles lived in another one.  
  
Slowly, Emma put away the red crayon and pulled out a blue one. Her mommy was the only one alone. She didn't used to be alone, she used to have Riley. He wasn't an uncle, or a gampa, or a daddy, even though he was her mommy's husband. He was just Riley. And then one day mommy had found something in their bedroom in the old house and started yelling. Riley yelled louder, and her mommy cried and whispered something, and picked up Emma. Then they went to Gamma Joyce's house, before she lived with Gampa Giles.  
  
She didn't know where Riley was now, or why her mommy was all alone, but her mommy didn't miss him. "Auntie Willow?" the timid 5 year old asked. "You know how you and Uncle Oz live together? And Uncle Xander and Aunt Anya do? And Gamma and Gampa do?" Aunt Willow gulped and nodded. "How come Mommy and Riley don't anymore? Why doesn't she miss him?"  
  
"Your mommy and Riley had a lot of problems," Aunt Willow told her. "Remember how they used to fight?"  
  
Emma nodded. "About Angels," she recalled.  
  
"About your mommy's Angel," Willow corrected. "You see a long time ago, when your mommy was younger, she loved a beautiful angel, and he loved her, but they couldn't be together, so he left her."  
  
"Is the angel my daddy?" Emma asked. She'd never been curious about her father before, but the more she knew about her mommy's angel, the more Emma wanted him to come back and be her angel too.  
  
"Sometimes I think so," the Wicca told her. "Because you were born magically, specially, and whenever they were together magical and special things happened."  
  
"Does she miss him?"  
  
"Very, very much," Willow answered. "And he misses her."  
  
"You're a hopeless romantic Will," Emma's mom said from where she was standing in the doorway.  
  
"Mommy, Mommy!" Emma bounced up and down in her seat. "Did you really love an angel?"  
  
"Yes, sweetie, I did," Buffy scooped up her daughter. "But now it's bedtime."  
  
"Okay, but where'd he go?" Emma was very curious about the mysterious angel. She wanted to make sure he was okay.  
  
"Well, you know how Mommy helps people?" she asked. The girl nodded. "Well one night there was a very big monster and he helped me to fight it, and then he went to go help other people."  
  
"Was that the last time you saw him?"  
  
"No, I saw him once after that, in his new home in Los Angeles," Buffy answered. "Now sleep."  
  
Buffy and Willow tucked her in and shut the light out. "I can't believe you told her that Will," Buffy scolded as they left. Then she went to her own room, to wonder where her Angel was at that moment. 


	2. Chapter One

The Love of An Angel Chapter 2 By Disguised Diva  
  
Angel O'Hara watched over the harbors as the sun rose, turning the sky orangey red. It would have made a beautiful painting, or photograph for that matter. A lone man staring in awe at the sunrise for the first time in 250 years. "Hey!" a familiar feminine voice called, from where she parked her Jeep. Waving, she hurried over to him, her blond hair perfectly highlighted by the sky. "What could be so important that you wanted to meet here so early?"  
  
"Sunrise," he answered. She sat next to him on the piece of driftwood. "I guess I forgot how early you'd need to leave."  
  
"Well, now that I'm here, what'd you wanna talk about?" she looked at him.  
  
"How's Riley?" he changed the subject. She noticed, but said nothing. She always noticed.  
  
"He left," she admitted. "Actually, I did. But he left Sunnydale."  
  
"I'm sorry," Angel said sincerely. Over time he'd accepted that Emma needed a father, even if she didn't have one biologically, and that Riley could support them in a way he hadn't been able to 5 years ago.  
  
"I'm not. It wasn't working," Buffy shrugged and smiled a little. "He was overly jealous, and I needed space that I couldn't get with him. We fought a lot."  
  
"You did get married pretty early," Angel nodded.  
  
"Understatement. I was 18. I was so not ready. Especially not with him," she shook her head. "He didn't even really know me."  
  
"So what ended it?" he asked.  
  
Buffy sighed. "Everything," she answered cryptically. "I found an enrollment slip, for the reserves. He was going back to the army. And he was never going to tell me. He said he tried to, but. if he'd said 'hey Buffy. I'm going to go enlist in the military and die' I would have listened, you know? After that I left. Took Emma to my mom's house, and I saw him a few times afterwards. we tried to work things out, but when he got summoned up, he asked point blank if there was anything worth coming home to, and I said no. We settled the divorce by mail. I haven't seen him since," she looked away. "But what about you? What've you been up to?"  
  
"I gave Cordelia away last month," he said.  
  
"I know. I was at the church, but it was really late, so I took Emma home before the reception," she reminded him. "That was incredibly nice of you, by the way."  
  
"I was touched that she asked me," Angel replied, pushing the compliment aside. "Doyle's good for her."  
  
"And business?" Buffy asked. "What have you been doing since the fight?"  
  
"I paint a lot," he answered. "Doyle kept the business open, and I help out sometimes. You?"  
  
"I finished school, but I'm studying to be a psychologist, so I had to go back. I write," she admitted. "And I'm skating again. I'm a little old, but I've actually won a few competitions, minor ones."  
  
"That's great," he'd known all that. Even her 'minor' competitions had been covered in the papers, and the rest he'd gathered from Cordelia. "Sounds like you're good."  
  
"I am," she smiled. "I miss it though. Slaying. I complained about it, but. it felt good. Knowing I was making a difference. There's still a demon every once in awhile, but it's no where near as often. I miss knowing I was saving the world."  
  
"At least now you know you'll make it through the night," at least I know you will, he thought.  
  
"Yeah, and it's better for Emma, but. something's missing," she turned to him, and their eyes met. All he had to do was lean a little closer. let their lips just meet and it would be perfect. He blinked.  
  
"Do you want to get breakfast?" Angel asked. Buffy smiled, but shook her head.  
  
"Not until I do something," she answered.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Kiss you," she told him, and then she leaned in, and let their lips meet in a perfect moment that just sort of froze the world for those few seconds, they way their kisses always had. Nothing else and no one else mattered.  
  
She was older now, wiser, and young and carefree at the same time. She was her, unequivocally and irrevocably. She was the scared little girl who'd given her entire heart to him so long ago, and the woman who'd been through divorce, and was now a single parent. She was the girl somewhere in between, lost and scared and unhappily married. She was everything she'd ever been, and more so than ever.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Two Weeks Later  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Buffy and Emma sat together on the sofa, Buffy braiding Emma's hair. Over the past few weeks, Buffy had been skating early in the morning, going to school, meeting Angel for lunch, then coming back her to play with her daughter. Today was different. Angel had moved back to Sunnydale for half the week, and he was coming to celebrate with them. Buffy was not cooking, she'd ordered in from a nearby restaurant that Willow had recommended. Angel was bringing dessert.  
  
The doorbell rang and Buffy frowned. "He's early," she muttered.  
  
"Is that your angel Mommy?" Emma looked at her. Buffy smiled.  
  
"Yeah, it is," she laughed.  
  
"Then go let him in!" Emma cried. Buffy nodded.  
  
"You're right," she smiled, taking her hand and leading her to the door. Pulling it open she blinked to see her mother standing their, tears streaming down her face. "Mom? Mom what's wrong?"  
  
"Gamma! Gamma!" Emma cooed, jumping into her grandmother's arms.  
  
"Honey, it's Rupert," Joyce looked her dead in the eyes. And Buffy got the chilling feeling that 'dead' was dead on.  
  
"What happened?" she whispered.  
  
"He. the doctors said it was a heart attack. He's in the hospital. They keep saying he'll be okay, but God, he's so still," she sobbed. "He's never that still!"  
  
"I'm not here, I'm not here, I'm not here," Willow said walking through the house. "Just forgot something in the kitchen. oh! Hi, Mrs. Summers. I thought you were Angel. oh god what happened?"  
  
"I have to go. Willow, can you tell Angel I'm at the hospital?" Buffy asked quietly, her voice shaking. "Mom you shouldn't drive."  
  
"And you should?" Joyce shook her head. "We're both shaky."  
  
"I'll get Oz, he can drive you. Who's in the hospital?" Willow looked at her friends stricken faces, and Mrs. Summers tear stained eyes, and gasped. "No. Not Giles. No."  
  
"I. we should go," Joyce whispered. Willow nodded and ran to get Oz. 


	3. Chapter Two

The Love of An Angel Chapter Three By Disguised Diva  
  
**AN: I sort of have a writers block as far as this story's concerned, so this won't be as good as the rest of the chapters were, but I'm trying since so many people are asking me too!**  
  
**AN 2: I'm sorry it took sooo long, I've been working on other stories and IRL stuff, and well, here's chapter three. It's really long. I hope that makes up for it! :P**  
  
Joyce watched from across the cafeteria as Buffy sat at one of the small drab tables, a Styrofoam mug in her hands, talking to the one guy she'd never wanted to see back in Buffy's life. And all her objections were gone now. She couldn't say Buffy didn't know what she wanted, or that she wasn't old enough, because she had a daughter, and she'd always known she wanted Angel. She couldn't say he was a vampire. He wasn't. she couldn't do anything, or say anything against it.  
  
"Thank you," she heard her daughter say. "For understanding." Angel took her hand and shook his head.  
  
"Don't worry about it. You should be here for him," he responded gently.  
  
"I just. he's always been there, you know? When no one else was on my side, there was Giles all ready to research. even when he didn't take me seriously, he was there," she ran a hand through her hair. "What if he isn't now?"  
  
"He will be," Angel told her. "A mild heart attack isn't enough to kill Giles. And even if it were, he'll always be there. You'll always be his Slayer."  
  
"Yeah, except Pike said that about Merrick, and. everything's so different. I can't lose Giles again!" Buffy looked up at Angel. "The last time, when he got fired, I thought he was going to go away and never come back, like Merrick did. I didn't think he'd stick around. And then Wesley came and I never got a minute alone with Giles, even when the conversation had nothing to do with demons, and I thought he was going to steal Giles away and I'd never get him back and now this. I can't take this anymore!"  
  
Joyce walked out of hearing distance to sit with Dawn. The teenager was ecstatic that Angel had returned to Buffy's life, and a part of Joyce was too. She was finally ready to admit that he wasn't really so bad for her. In fact, conversations like that proved that he could be really good for her daughter, that Buffy opened up to the former vampire in a way she'd never opened up to anyone ever.  
  
She loved Buffy. Buffy loved Angel. Maybe it was time for Joyce to just accept him.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Buffy looked through the glass at her mentor and step-father. She hadn't wanted to witness the surgery itself, but now as he slept, she couldn't help peaking in.  
  
He looked weaker than Buffy had ever seen him, connected to the IV, and there was a bruise on the side of his face from when he'd fallen. Buffy let a small tear slide down her face watching him. He wasn't Super Giles anymore. There were no demonic history books around him, he wasn't wearing glasses. He wasn't scary Giles who played guitar in coffee houses. Hell, he wasn't even demon Giles that only Spike could understand. He was just a tiny little frame hooked up to some tubes in a hospital.  
  
Small hands tugged at her jacket, and Buffy knelt to Emma's level. Willow had just brought her over. "Momma, I want to see Grampa Giles," the little girl whispered. She sounded scared and Buffy figured she probably was. Scared because no one would tell her the truth, or what was happening. So Buffy picked her up and held her so she could look in the window. "That's not Grampa Giles."  
  
"Yes it is, sweetie. He's just really sick right now," Buffy told her daughter.  
  
"Tell Gramma to give him some soup, like you always do," Emma ordered. "And I'll go give him chocolate like he gives me."  
  
"No, Em. This is a different kind of sick. He needs to do what the doctor says, and we do too," Buffy smiled. "It'll be okay, though. He'll be okay."  
  
Emma looked at her mother tearfully. "No he won't! He's in a hosibal! He's gonna go away forever, like Grampa Hank did last year and then I won't have any Grampa's to give me toys and candy!"  
  
Buffy blinked at the mention of her father's death. Hank had been in his house when a servant lit the L.A. mansion on fire. He and his second wife had died, leaving Buffy, Dawn, and their half/step-siblings (Sarah, Crystal and Marcus) fatherless. Sarah and her husband had taken the other two in. Buffy had gotten the call that he was in the hospital and taken Emma down to see her grandfather. Joyce and Dawn had followed only to find Hank already dead.  
  
"No, honey, what happened to my daddy was different. Grampa Giles will be okay," she promised, praying she was right. "He just needs a lot of rest."  
  
"What if a monster comes?" Emma asked quietly.  
  
"Then Mommy will just have to fight it on her own," Buffy answered, holding her daughter closer.  
  
"Gramma! Gramma!" Emma wiggled away from Buffy and ran to her grandmother. "Make Grampa wake up, I wanna make him better."  
  
"I'm sorry, Emma, but Grampa needs his sleep right now," Joyce said sadly. "I'm sure you'll be able to talk to him soon though."  
  
"Why?" Emma looked at her grandmother, then her mother, and then back. "Why is Grampa sick?"  
  
"Sometimes when people get old, their hearts start having troubles," Buffy answered, walking over to her. "Grampa's done a lot of good, but it did too much to his heart, and now he's gotta rest it for awhile."  
  
"You did a lot of good too mommy. Is your heart gonna get hurt?" Emma looked at her fearfully.  
  
"Not if I'm really careful," Buffy answered. "And I am."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The first thing Giles heard was a steady beeping noise when he woke. Then slowly, he came to realize he was hospitalized. Joyce sat by his bed, and Buffy held a sleeping Emma beside her. "Hi," he whispered to his wife and step daughter.  
  
"Hi," Joyce whispered back. "You scared us there."  
  
"I remember falling," Giles looked away. "Is that how this happened?" Joyce nodded.  
  
"You had a mild heart attack," she answered. "They said you should be okay."  
  
"Well, that's good, I suppose," Giles smiled weakly. "That I'll be good."  
  
"Giles you need to be careful," Buffy looked seriously at him. "You've been overdoing it."  
  
"That's impossible," he retorted. "I'm unemployed."  
  
"Yeah, but you still manage to work too much," Buffy smiled. "Giles I'm serious. You really scared me. if you. just promise me, okay?"  
  
"I promise you I will be more careful," Giles noticed how red her eyes were, as if she hadn't slept in days. "How long have I been here?"  
  
"All weekend," Joyce said. Emma rubbed her eyes.  
  
"You waked up!!" the girl cried. "Bad Grampa. You ruined Mommy and her Angel's weekend!!"  
  
"I'm sorry," Giles smiled at her. "I didn't mean to."  
  
Buffy laughed a little, then looked at the clock. "Whoops, you, Missy, need to get home," she said, tickling her little girl. Picking her up, she looked at Giles for a minute. "I'll go see if Will's still here."  
  
"It looks like you could use some rest too," Giles looked at her. "Besides, don't you have school tomorrow?"  
  
"I can miss it," Buffy smiled at him. "Will can get me the notes."  
  
"No fair! If Mommy misses school, I do too," Emma said. "I dun wanna go to preschool. I wanna stay with Mommy."  
  
"Buffy, go," Giles ordered. "I'll be fine."  
  
"I'll walk you out," Joyce offered, standing with them. She bent to kiss Giles quickly, then lead her daughter and granddaughter out of the room.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Mom, I can't go to school worried about him," Buffy said quietly. Joyce nodded.  
  
"I don't expect you too. Take a day off, you deserve it. I'll take Emma after school, you and Angel could use some time together," Joyce smiled. Buffy gaped at her.  
  
"Who are you and what have you done with my mother?" Buffy smiled.  
  
"I know I haven't always been. supportive of your relationship with him," Buffy snorted. "But Buffy, even I can see how bright your eyes have been these last few weeks."  
  
Buffy smiled and hugged her mom. "Thanks, Mom. That really means a lot to me."  
  
"I'm glad," Joyce smiled back. "Now go."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Emma had fallen fast asleep by the time Angel pulled the convertible into Buffy's drive way. Buffy looked over at him from the other bucket seat. "Thanks," she whispered. Angel smiled.  
  
"My pleasure," he answered. She took his hand and they just stared at each other for a few moments, in awe of how everything could change, and yet you find out that nothing at all had. Angel leaned over, and their lips met gently.  
  
"Do you. would you like to come in?" Buffy asked shyly. Angel looked back at Emma for a minute. "She'll be asleep," Buffy pointed out. "And anyway, she likes you."  
  
He smiled, thinking about how warmly Emma had accepted him. "Okay," he agreed, undoing his seatbelt. Buffy helped her daughter out of the car, and carried her up to the door. Willow and Oz's van was parked next to theirs.  
  
"They must have come back while I was with Giles," Buffy mused, looking over. She let them in the house quietly, and told Angel to sit anywhere, while she put Emma to bed.  
  
The home was perfect for her, more so than her mom's home had been. There were big bay windows that would make the scattered lights pointless during the day, and let the starlight in at night. The floor was made of engraved wood, with beautiful patterns, and there was a very large red rug in the center. The walls were dark blue. Facing the windows, on either side of the door to the hallway, were beautiful red sofas and matching loveseats. End tables between them held blue china vases containing white flowers. On the other side of the room, by the outer door, were a piano, a chess table and 2 chairs, and a stereo.  
  
On the other side was an easel, on which rested a not quite finished portrait of Emma, in the sunlight, with sunlight hitting her blond head, her green eyes sparkling from the smile on her little face. Buffy had painted it, the style matched the style he'd seen in her old watercolor book for her high school art class. The love pouring out of the picture was amazing. "Wow," he whispered.  
  
"You like it?" her familiar voice said.  
  
"It's amazing," he answered, turning to look at her. She blushed at him.  
  
"I'm working on it for this art course I'm taking. I'm minoring in art history so I can maybe take control of my mom's gallery when she retires," Buffy told him. "I just think it should be kept in the family."  
  
Angel smiled. "I think that's a great idea," he encouraged. "You always have had great taste."  
  
Buffy blushed even more. "Yeah, well, you taught me," she laughed a little uneasily. "She's sleeping."  
  
"She's a sweet girl," he followed her into the dining room where there was a small bar by a fire place. She poured herself a glass of red wine, then offered him one.  
  
"She is," Buffy agreed, leaning against the bar. "Light of my life."  
  
"I can see why," Angel looked at her, trying to look anywhere but her lips. They looked so warm, so inviting, like a treasure he was only recently allowed to indulge in. Even now, now that they were together again, and every thing felt. right, he and Buffy rarely kissed. The past two weeks had rushed by, with him coming down to Sunnydale or her going up to L.A. or phone calls. But little physical contact.  
  
And while he was thinking about all that, she'd moved closer, pressing those warm, inviting lips to his and he could only think one thing as she pulled him closer, letting their tongues duel playfully.  
  
He was home. 


	4. Chapter Three

AN: Hey pplz, I've been getting some feedback about this so I wanted to clear some stuff up. Okay, first of all, it's not AU exactly. It just takes place in the future, but the timeline stops not even halfway through the fourth season of Buffy and the first of Angel, so that's why Gunn and Fred and Lorne have not been in it. Also, it takes place in Sunnydale so far. Cordelia and Wesley (or Doyle, I haven't decided yet) will be in it at some point, but that hasn't been yet. Second this isn't anywhere near the end! I'm just getting started baby! But thanks for all the feedback and I'm glad you like it! Without further ado here's the fluffiest section yet. Don't worry angst fans, troubles coming soon!!!  
  
~Lissa  
  
The Love of an Angel Chapter Three By Skitty  
  
She wasn't sure why she'd kissed him, but she didn't really care all that much. He tasted good human, different, but still good. His lips and tongue were so much warmer, and still so cool, and the arms encircling her waist were a similar temperature. She wrapped her hands around his neck, tangling her hands in his hair. He pulled away to breath, and she was in awe that it had been him who'd needed to breathe this time.  
  
"Fast," he breathed out. She nodded. "Too fast."  
  
"And also? Not slow enough," she added, her breath a little shaky as well. Then he kissed her, sweeping her up and carrying her into the living room, settling onto the sofa, with her in his lap.  
  
"We should go."  
  
"Slowly, right," she agreed again. "Things are. different now. I have Emma and you have."  
  
"Sometimes I think of Cordelia as a daughter," he smirked. She laughed lightly whacking his arm. "But seriously, you have a great relationship with her and I don't want to screw that up for you. She already had to deal with Riley coming and going and."  
  
"And it would be bad to jump," she nodded. "Because even if she weren't. we still have history issues that would be bad to just ignore. So jumping is bad."  
  
Angel only nodded, unsure of what to say, until she tilted her head to his. "I just. um, kiss me?"  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Willow smiled playfully at her friend. Buffy was sitting to her left in their psych seminar a few days after Giles was released from the hospital. It was Thursday, which meant that Angel had come to spend the second half of his week in Sunnydale only the night before. The glow in her friend's skin and gleaming smile in her eyes told Willow that Buffy had thoroughly enjoyed his return. While the professor droned on she scrawled out a note to Buffy.  
  
'Hey Buff, have fun last night?'  
  
Buffy rose an eyebrow at her friend, and her blush told everything she needed to know.  
  
'My goodness Miss Rosenburg, what are you implying?'  
  
'You had fun with Angel. You had fun with Angel.'  
  
'It's hard not to have fun with Angel around. At least for me. But yes, it was fun. He took us home from the hospital, I put Emma to bed, and we talked. That's it. But we are going out tonight. I actually meant to ask you if you and Oz could baby-sit.'  
  
'Of course. Emma's the cutest sittee.'  
  
'I'm glad you like her so much. With Angel back in town you'll have her pretty often now.'  
  
'Good. We missed watching her so much when you and Riley were together. Not that we miss Riley. Uh uh no sir, Riley was a poop head.'  
  
'A poop head? First we're passing notes and now my ex husband's a poop head? Willow, did you secretly regress back to junior high.'  
  
'Ooh, regress, big psych word.'  
  
'Speaking of which, Professor Ryans might be boring as hell, but he's not an evil scientist out to destroy the world. I say we start paying attention.'  
  
Willow smirked at that and turned back to the class, but she never did manage to pay any attention. She was awed by how much happier Buffy seemed in a matter of weeks. Being with Angel had changed her friend, again. Their first time around had showed Buffy what she was fighting for and made her see she was worth loving. The second time brought the first genuine smile Willow had seen on her face in. well, ever.  
  
There were no barriers, no stops, nothing holding Buffy and Angel back, and Willow could tell. It was obvious in the way Buffy smiled, in the way she'd been carrying herself, even in her responsiveness to her classes. "Isn't he just scared?" Buffy was saying. Willow blinked, not knowing what they were talking about, but figuring it had to do with the home work assignment Professor Ryans had given last week. It had been some hypothetical situation that she hadn't bothered to read.  
  
That had to be a first. Willow hadn't done her homework, and Buffy not only had, but had something to respond to it. "Care to elaborate?" the professor asked.  
  
"He runs. He hides from everything and everyone he's ever loved, and he didn't even really do anything. He's just afraid to love them because he thinks they'll go away," Buffy explained. The professor nodded, moving on to explain the situation more fully, showing exactly how Buffy was right. When the class ended, classmates were congratulating Buffy as they walked out.  
  
"Great comments today, Buffy," Professor Ryans called. "You've really impressed me. Your personal situation can't be easy."  
  
"I've got help," Buffy smiled to Willow. "Besides, I love psychology."  
  
"Have you considered where you want to go in the field?" He came closer to the two girls, as Buffy pulled her one shoulder bag on. "I have a TA position available. I don't know if teaching would be your quota or not, but I am offering it to you, if you'd like it."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"So then he asks me if I want to be a TA!" Buffy smiled at Angel across the romantic diner table he'd set up at his apartment. "Take that Principal Snyder!"  
  
She waved her fork around violently for a minute before slipping it between her lips and eating the linguini he'd made. He laughed. "I'm sure from somewhere inside the blown up bits in the old high school he's cringing," Angel assured her. She laughed too.  
  
"I guess it is kind of silly, but it's a big deal to me. I've never been any good at anything academic, and I'm at the top of his class. The top! As in the highest point! I'm his best student!" she smiled a huge smile that melted his heart. "I've never had that before."  
  
"It's not silly at all," he promised. "And I'm proud of you."  
  
"You are?" he knew she didn't need to seek his approval anymore. She'd been living her own life separate from him for years. But she wanted it, and that was enough to awe him.  
  
"Of course I am," he smiled at her. "You were in a difficult situation, and you made it positive. You've been through a tough divorce, you're a single mother, and you're still on top of it all. Plus, you're doing amazingly well in school and I have a feeling psych isn't the only class you're acing."  
  
She shook her head a little. "I can't help it. I love school now. It's like when I realized I could learn, I just decided I didn't want to stop," she said. "I know it sounds cheesy but. I really love psych. And I love that it's getting me closer to being able to help people in a way I've never really been able to. I love the idea that I can still do something; still make the world better, even if I'm not saving it anymore."  
  
"You make the world better by being in it," Angel said sincerely, and Buffy blushed, looking away. "You made me better just by loving me."  
  
"It would have been harder not to love you. I didn't really have a say in the matter," she reminded him, touching his cheek. "And you made me better too. I didn't. before you, I had a lot of bad boyfriends. I didn't think someone like you was out there. But you were. And you showed me I was worth something."  
  
"Of course you're worth something," Angel smiled. "Everything, actually. It's why I left."  
  
"I know that, now. But I was a lot younger then," Buffy admitted, sighing. "I'm not saying that I think my mom was right butting into my life and telling you to get out of it, but I don't think she realized what you meant. She should have let me make my own mistakes, but I know you. You were going to leave soon anyway. I could feel it. I just didn't want to believe it."  
  
"I'm sorry," he said, moving to kneel beside her, brushing a strand of hair out of her eyes. "Not that I left, because I still believe it was right, but because it hurt you. Because in punishing a demon, the gypsies punished you too. And that wasn't fair."  
  
Buffy bent to kiss him gently, and the past was quickly forgotten as their present and future took precedence. 


End file.
